PAU’s Rachel Jacoby, PhD, Receives Pioneer Award for Visionary Leadership by CACREP

Visiting Assistant Professor, Rachel Jacoby, PhD, was awarded the prestigious Carol Bobby Pioneer Award for Visionary Leadership by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).  

The Award, created in honor of retired CACREP President and CEO Carol Bobby, PhD, recognizes a doctoral student in a CACREP-accredited program who “embodies visionary leadership aligned with CACREP's core values." Dr. Bobby joined the PAU Board of Trustees upon her retirement from CACREP. 

Dr. Jacoby was nominated by faculty and administrators from the University of Toledo, where she recently earned her doctorate. Her nominators included Dr. Madeline Clark, Dr. John Laux, and Dr. Martin Ritchie. 

“I was so impressed by Rachel's accomplishments over the past couple of years while she was in her doctoral program that I couldn't help but be in awe of her energy, dedication, and ability to excel despite the extra stressors of the pandemic, Dr. Bobby said. “The counseling profession, and PAU in particular, is fortunate to have Rachel joining the ranks of the professoriate, because she is someone who will not only give it her all, but will also serve as a terrific role model for all future counselors!”

CACREP noted Dr. Jacoby’s accomplishments at the annual ACES Conference in October in Atlanta, Georgia. She is licensed in the State of Ohio as a Professional Clinical Counselor with Supervisory endorsement. Dr. Jacoby is also a Nationally Certified Counselor, a Level-1 Certified Trauma Practitioner, and a Certified Family Life Educator. Dr. Jacoby is also taking on responsibilities in her field, which certainly warrant the “Visionary Leadership” award. She is President-Elect of the national Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC) and is the founder and current Past-President of ACAC’s Ohio Division.

Of winning the award, Dr. Jacoby said, “It is such an honor! It was so rewarding to hear the positive praise that I received from my faculty. Not only that, but the fact that the leaders at CACREP found that my contributions to the field are making an impact and consider me to be a young leader is really outstanding.”

Dr. Bobby sent Dr. Jacoby a letter recognizing her accomplishments as a counselor educator and young professional. Dr. Jacoby commented “I am so grateful to have the opportunity to connect with her, considering how much she has done for our field. I hope I can make an impact on the profession as she has. It gives me so much drive to continue to help the counseling field grow.”